3143. On Using the Internet in the Classroom



If you’re not integrating social media into your class, you’re ignoring one of the most powerful forms of literacy in the world today.
I copied that quote a couple days ago. I’ve got to admit I’m not a digital native, first premise. For I was born in 1969 (!). I was born when computers were being made smaller for the trips to the Moon (!). Up to then a computer might take up a whole room (!).
Anyway I should listen to that quote and I want to.
A second premise should be that we’ve got to boost our students into the social media in the classroom too. Also by taking into account that in some way we teachers should filter the social media contents our students are about to watch in the Web. Because they should focus on the topics to search about.
I was going to write about the consequences of that quote of the beginning of this article, but you may be (for sure!) younger than me and may be integrating your students into the social media. Up to today what I do with my adult students regarding the new technologies is making them look up some word in an online dictionary in their smartphones, and a bit else. What to do then?
By the way I shouldn’t say “new technologies” when most of you readers may be using them since you were conscious as young children. It’d be different if I had kids in my classes – currently I teach grown-ups, except in summer, when I assist at English-language camps for boys. Well, I’ve got to stop here. On next post I’ll try to write a bit more on this issue: social media as the way of getting into modern literacy. / Photo from: www pinterest com. The picture is a nice illustration.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

3658. Language Facts or Communication in Class?

  I teach English to adults. It’s so great … and demanding.  Adults have some characteristic way of learning the language. For example they tend to focus on specific grammar patterns and ways of saying things in the target language. Well, it’s something I also do when learning that language myself. And it is something I cannot change. It is something we can take advantage from, anyway.  Even in that way they can learn quite a lot. You know, it doesn’t matter they would ask me questions in class that show they are focusing on grammar. It’s ok. It’s ok ever if also we as teachers facilitate there is plenty of communication in English in class.  I mean, do not confine as a teacher to teach grammar and language facts, but provide a lot of communication in class.  When some newcomer arrives at one of those groups of mine – and I’m thinking of one specific group – that new student says kind of, Oh I can see my classmates have a lot of fluency while in my case … Why do the other students have
Read more

758. Irregular verbs now and then

Image
One day teacher of English B said to teacher of English A, “English irregular verbs are an interesting grammar point Spanish students have to study year after year, increasing the list of them each academic year. Quite many more verbs of this type existed in Old English, before the 11th century, perhaps most of the English verbs then. In other words, the way each verb took the form of past simple and past participle was more complicate than the simple – ed ending. With centuries passing, fewer and fewer verbs remained as such ‘irregular’ verbs, in fact those verbs native speakers used very often. Because of that those verbs remained being ‘irregular’, while most of the English verbs, roughly speaking, were taking on the regular form of – ed for past simple and past participle. This can be due just to linguistic evolutions that actually occur in every language, with the language common people speak, year after year. Beside the fact that many words, so verbs too, were entering in the E
Read more

2064. Connecting people from different countries

Image
Something we teachers of English or other languages have to bear in mind when teaching adults is that the students should learn and practice communication, and we shouldn’t confine our classes to give them facts of the languages.  Also in kids’ case.  The point isn’t for them to know information about the language, yet to learn how to communicate in that language.  Thus we could plan our classes with that aim.  I state all this because we could dedicate a long time to teach facts, information, something nearly dead, say.  In this way, besides we contribute to connect people from so varied countries. It’s something brilliant, isn’t it? / Photo from: people-happy-cheering bachflowerssingapore wordpress com
Read more

2445. We Had Nice Teachers To Remember!

Image
Families have a nice and indispensable role in kids’ education.  School just helps, among other things to win knowledge and PRACTICE of technical school subjects: math, sport, grammar and spelling… Also school educates people, more specifically: teachers, we teachers help parents and families in their kids’ education.  At school you win some values, like solidarity, environmental friendship, knowledge and practice..., as I said. And all what teachers, we teachers can provide, because of our own education, values and virtues: we set examples, either positive or we can show flaws in our behavior.  I’ll give you one example. At my primary education we had a teacher that taught us how to read the Bible, the New Testament more specifically.  We had nice teachers, and they taught us how to learn… and to love their subjects. I can state that - about most of my teachers. / Photo from: teacher1 www geledes org br
Read more

1020. Singing in the Rain (1952)

Image
Today I’d like to talk about a grand movie.  I’m referring to Singing in the Rain , released in April 1952. It’s one of the best musicals ever.  The three main characters were:  Gene Kelly as Don Lockwood, Donald  O'Connor as Cosmo Brown, and  Debbie Reynolds as Kathy Selden.  The site which I took the picture from is doctormacro com.  The scene on the picture above is the famous “Good Morning” performance – it is a song. The choreography is just awesome. Did you know how old Debbie Reynolds was when filming the movie? 19 years old!  Alfonso Méndiz, a professor of Universidad de Málaga wrote in one of his great books that Gene Kelly got a terrible cold as a result of the also unforgettable “Singin’ in the Rain” scene.
Read more